Topic: Movie thread.

Dog man was pretty good, tomorrow i reckon i'll go see Captain America even though i did not like the previous one, oh and i got myself a copy of The Thing on bluray, a true classic!!!!

Forgot to mention a few movies I saw.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! - I saw this a few weeks ago, but I saw YouTube Movies had a couple of Aardman movies on there for free and I haven’t seen this, so I gave it a try and went in blind.

The film centers on a pirate captain who wants to plunder enough treasure and gold to win a pirate competition, but he and his ragtag group of pirates have been unsuccessful in finding gold during their raids. After they raid a ship carrying Charles Darwin, he takes the pirates to London to win gold for the pirate competition via a science competition with the captain’s special and prized “parrot,” a dodo. However, the existence of the dodo captures the attention of the pirate-hating Queen Victoria, and after that a ton of wacky hijinks ensue.

I already expected this to be a super fun movie since I’ve seen Aardman’s other work, and it sure was! The film’s premise combining pirates, fiction, and real-life figures was super fun, and it provides plenty of comedy throughout the whole thing.

The characters were nice too. A lot of Aardman’s work have plenty of charming characters that pair well with their wonderful claymation and here it’s like that again! The titular group of pirates have a lot of different personalities and have plenty of character, and I especially liked the film’s take on Charles Darwin, him having an intelligent chimpanzee assistant and his introduction. I also think Queen Victoria’s depiction was funny too, and she gets crazy and a bit unhinged later on, kind of like Mrs. Tweedy from Chicken Run. I was very shocked with her intentions with the dodo, that being she wants the dodo in a petting zoo, but in actuality she wants to use the dodo for a dinner where she and several world leaders all eat dishes using endangered animals, and she fights tooth and nail by using a pair of swords she hid in some mechanical part of her dress, and it’s more hilarious when you remember she’s fighting so she can continue to hold a special dinner. I was actually so surprised and laughing when they revealed that, and I love how wacky Aardman makes their characters.

The comedy in this one was also top notch. Plenty of goofy dialogue and moments (both big and small) and so many hilarious scenarios and situations. Parts that I found hilarious was Darwin’s introduction where he’s writing on the ship and has a completely unfazed reaction to the pirate raids, and then after realizing his ship is getting attacked, he proceeds to randomly write about how he doesn’t have a girlfriend, as well as some moments in the pirate tavern early in the movie when the captain is signing up for the pirate competition and it showcases his rivals. This was a really good time, and it really showcases a lot of Aardman’s signature animation, charm, silliness and humor present in so many of their shorts and films.

Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers - Recently got Disney+ again and rewatched it this morning. I’ve been in the mood to rewatch it after enjoying Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which this is inspired by. It’s based on the Rescue Rangers show, though the movie isn’t a direct adaptation and has a significantly different plot.

In this one, Chip and Dale were once popular and famous actors in the Rescue Rangers show in the 90s, but after a falling out that caused the show to get cancelled, they both went their separate ways and have not spoken to each other since. However, decades later, they team up again to find the whereabouts of their co-star Monterey Jack, who goes missing alongside several other cartoon stars in a mysterious case that the police haven’t been able to solve.

The movie has plenty of similarities to Roger Rabbit, mainly from the film being set in a world where cartoon characters and humans co-exist and the premise being centered on a mystery. Although I don’t think this is on the same levels of good as Roger Rabbit, it’s a really decent spiritual successor. Rescue Rangers is seemingly an odd choice for a Roger Rabbit-inspired movie, but it works super well surprisingly. When I got ads for this years ago, I was expecting this to be a terrible and unfunny film, but I was wrong!

The film, like Roger Rabbit, has animated characters interacting in a real-world setting and humans, but uses plenty of modern animation styles rather than only 2D. It has 3D animation, 3D cel-shaded animation, 2D animation, photorealistic animation, claymation, and puppetry, as well as multiple different art styles. It’s cool seeing different forms of animation and art styles together, and makes it feel like a big collaboration between multiple people. I find it a bit disappointing the 2D animation in the film is 3D animation cel-shaded to look 2D, but they explained the movie had a low budget and they had to use 3D for a lot of it to make it work, and given its a straight-to-streaming film and those tend to have a smaller budget than theatrical films, it makes sense, but there are scenes and cameos where some characters are animated with actual 2D.

The film’s take on Chip and Dale differs quite a bit from their OG depictions, but they retain a lot of traits from their original personalities, and given the premise of the film, I’d say the changes work. One notable change is them being voiced by John Mulaney and Andy Samberg respectively instead of Tress MacNeille and Corey Burton (though the two briefly voice them in the film), but the film explains their higher-pitched voices were apart of them acting and they both have normal voices, and I found that explanation fits Chip and Dale well since here they are (or, were) actors, plus the new voices I find still fit their personalities. The film’s take on Peter Pan originally being a child star and then getting tossed out after he started growing up was an interesting take, mainly from how they wanted to apply what sometimes to child actors after they grow up to a cartoon character, but they did him so dirty in the film… While I think the main characters were good and I liked their dynamic, the rest of the Rescue Rangers are largely absent from the film and don’t really do anything until later on. There’s an officer named Ellie who helps them (in a kind of similar role like Eddie from Roger Rabbit) and they kind of give her a backstory and she’s shown to be a big Rescue Rangers fan, but I think she wasn’t developed a whole lot, and there was also a clay detective she works for who I think also wasn’t that memorable, but it mainly comes from the film’s focus being on Chip and Dale’s friendship, so the rest of the characters don’t get much development or focus. Compared to Roger Rabbit, which focused equally on toons and humans, this focuses more on the toons, and the humans are not really present besides Ellie.

The comedy is eh. I didn’t think it was all that hilarious (though also because this is my 3rd time watching it) and it has some standard but sometimes unfunny jokes. However, Rescue Rangers is metafictional and self-aware of cliches, jokes, and tropes all too common in Hollywood movies and makes fun of them, and it makes up for the mediocre comedy. One example being Chip criticizing film companies making popular cartoon characters sing, and when him and Dale are forced to sing at one point, the film intentionally makes them hilariously bad at rapping and it works since it’s both funny and shows how bad and cliched it is, plus there’s something with bad songs where they try to rhyme with the same word that is so funny.

Another one is the evil all along trope with the clay detective where when he reveals to Ellie he worked for Peter Pan, they both point out how cliche it is for him to have been secretly bad. Another standout with the self-awareness is them making fun of the uncanny valley style from 2000s movies with a town full of uncanny-looking characters and the bootlegging machine, which is the film’s equivalent to the dip from Roger Rabbit. It’s take on bootlegs is so unique, and although the film isn’t too funny, it’s self-awareness with cliches, bootlegs and modern reboots of old IPs are one of the best parts, and it feel like the movie is a gigantic dissection of popular movies as a whole.

Along with the humor comes cameos. A TON of cameos, which this movie is only really known for and why people talked about it for a week and forgot about it afterward. A lot of the cameos provide a bit of fan service by having various characters appear in scenes and interact, and it was cool to see a couple characters I recognized, but the most notable one is Ugly Sonic, which was a cameo that is so insane and unexpected for this but fits so well with the self-aware humor. They make a ton of references to that awful first Sonic trailer and draw attention to his weird teeth, and even though he seems like he doesn’t do much at first, near the end of the film he assists Chip and Dale by distracting Peter Pan while riding in an FBI helicopter, and it’s so crazy. The film is so weird but in a good and entertaining way.

If you really like Roger Rabbit and want to watch something similar to it, I’d say give this one a try! It’s a really serviceable successor that is surprisingly good and does a decent job at following Roger Rabbit’s footsteps. Also, sorry for the long rambling. You can tell how much I loved this one lol.

@Splash_Woman haha, that's awesome! Nothing like a mutual love of schlocky horror to bring people together.

I saw the musical many years ago, sadly I was not splattered with blood.

The series was great. A perfect send-off for the Ash character. I can't remember what season it was, but there was a scene with Ash doing battle with a possessed intestinal track and sphincter, which was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

I must admit I've never seen the 2013 evil dead. It came out during a time when a ton of my favorite 80s movies were getting needless, mediocre remakes, so I avoided it on principle. Sounds like I didn't miss much!

I think I might give evil dead rise a chance though based on your recommendation and that of a good buddy of mine.

Tonight im busy with the 1982 documentary on Tubi. I wish Tubi would add more documentaries like that every now and then.

Watched Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (2022) and it was serviceable. Some ok humor but nothing special.

Ok just one question that I think a lot of people (of a certain age and into films) should be debating.....

What do you think about the sequel to Goonies that is being made?

@Bunkerneath Mixed feelings on Goonies 2... but in saying that, some of the recent "30 year later" sequels aren't actually that bad. Top Gun Maverick was a pleasant surprise, as was the new Beetlejuice.

My expectations are low for Goonies 2 ("Two-nies"??), but I'm not writing it off just yet

It's probably heresy round these parts (and in general), but I'm of a certain age and into films and I don't actually like Goonies that much. I didn't think it was terrible or anything, just ok, but I just don't get how everyone seems to love it. 🤷‍♂️

My post is a couple weeks late, but on Valentine's Day, I got to see Lady and the Tramp. The 1955 original, and I watched it on my blu-ray copy. It was the perfect day to watch it... especially since I like classic Disney movies. I think it's a nice, cute movie. Like with all the other Disney classics, the animation and art style are lovely, and I also like the old-timey town that this movie takes place in. Some scenes were really sweet, too. The ending was especially heartwarming, with everyone all together during the next Christmas... plus Lady's puppies were adorable!

I enjoyed it, and I'm glad I got to see this one. This was one of the Disney films that my family just didn't have back in the day, and I didn't have a lot of exposure to it as a kid. I do remember a couple of the songs from one of Disney's sing-along tapes, however.

Ordered Godzilla vs Hedorah 4K Remaster Blu-ray, not the 4KUHD Blu-ray. This one is the most bizarre Godzilla film ever. Even makes Gamera vs Guiron look normal by comparison. I had the movie on DVD back then.

Watched Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens for the first time. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan and don't pay attention to the discussion around it, so I don't know if this is a common thought/complaint about it. Wasn't it pretty much the exact same movie as the first one (Episode IV, not Episode I)? It's like they just changed some names and made the main characters no longer white males (except for Han obviously), but otherwise it was the same movie.

@Xyphon22 Yup, that's pretty much the most common complaint around The Force Awakens.

@dmcc0 Yeah, I assumed I wasn't the only person who thought that. It was just weird watching the movie and thinking the whole time, "I think I've already seen this." And I could be wrong, but I thought I'd heard this is supposed to be the best of the new trilogy (or at least not the worst, since nobody has yet somehow returned). If that's the case, I don't exactly have high hopes for when I get around to VIII and IX.

@Xyphon22 I actually liked VIII the most from the new trilogy, but I appear to be in the minority based on what I've heard from others. As mentioned, VII felt too much like a remake/reboot and I thought IX just didn't make any sense - I won't give details due to spoilers. I thought the whole trilogy felt really disjointed compared to the Original and Prequel trilogies though

i was pretty much in the downtown area all day earlier today mostly to see Captain America 4 at the movie theater. then went to a candy novelty shop and bought some new Bar None candy bars and a pack of cotton candy Bubbalicious bubble gum.

then since late last night and the rest of the day today ive been binge watching Star Wars Acolyte on Disneyplus

I'm eager to watch Snow White 2025 live action by Disney regardless the drama and the chaos behind the scenes.
But the things that really bothering me was the backlash and prejudice on every single trailer of Snow White 2025.
I get it.
They think that movie will be flop then don't watch, but don't keep spouting negativity and trash comments on every single Snow White 2025 trailer with spam bots.
That was very aggressive toxic behavior.
I will watch that movie, don't care what people said.
I think the movie will be interesting to watch.

@Anti-Matter The problem I have with the 'live-action' Disney remakes is that none of the ones I've seen have actually improved upon the originals. The Lion King especially just sucked all of the charm and humour out of the original, and it felt like I was watching a tech demo.

@dmcc0
Again, depend on the director and script writer.
In the right hand, the live action will turn great like Aladdin 2019, Cinderella 2015, Beauty & the Beast 2017.
Those are my personal choice that live action version did better than cartoon version.
Cartoon version was too busy with unnecessary silliness that didn't explore the story development, like the wasted minutes of Lucifer cat chasing around the mice in Cinderella cartoon version or too much dancing & singing in Snow White with 7 Dwarfs that can be filled with character developments so we will understand even more.
I didn't say the cartoon version was suck but it was lack of advanced story development which can build more character development rather than wasting several minutes with unnecessary scenes.

@Anti-Matter I've only seen bits of both versions of Cinderella, so can't really comment on that - although I think the animated movie is generally not considered to be one of the better Disney 'classics'.

I thought live action Aladdin and Beauty & the Beast were nowhere near as good as the animated movies - I didn't like Aladdin at all, and Beauty & the Beast was just OK. Casting Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin was perfect, so nobody was ever going to live up to that. I just think the live-action remakes have 'cash grab' written all over them.

@dmcc0
I was the opposite.
I like very much Aladdin 2019 as I have watched the movie back in year 2019 for 4 times within 1 month being aired at my local Cinema XXI.
I enjoyed the dance, music, the awkward meeting between Aladdin with Sultan and Princess Jasmine that made me LOL, the touching scene of Genie become human.
It was 9/10 in my opinion.

In contrary, I don't really like that much Aladdin cartoon version as it was too comical in my opinion even I like whimsical cartoon but some of whimsical things in Aladdin cartoon version like the way of Genie using modern references as his goofiness didn't sit really well for me, the evil portraying of Ja'far cartoon version was too cheesy for a villain. I prefer Ja'far live action version with quiet & calm personality but can be intimidating & furious if he is upset, no cringey villain behavior like cartoon version.
And I prefer the scene from live action version where Aladdin & Jasmine got chased by giant Iago parrot by Jafar's magic while they were riding magic carpet & it made chaos in Agrabah. Looked way more pleasure to watch than the cartoon version which Ja'far changed himself into giant cobra and try to attack Aladdin.

Again, my personal opinion why I prefer live action of Aladdin 2019, Cinderella 2015 and Beauty & the Beast 2017.

Also, I prefer Cinderella 2015 live action version than the cartoon as the story of live action version added with backstory of Cinderella and the slowly changed of behavior of stepmother that turned evil. The cartoon version didn't explain that much the backstory of Cinderella so I felt quite disappointed after I compared with the live action version.